Coming Home
by Pakmai
Summary: After the world finds out that Captain America is alive, there are a lot of ups and downs that come from it and a lot of things Fury shields him from. Until one day he gets a letter inviting him back to Brooklyn to come home... One-shot.


**After seeing a bunch of Avengers, specifically Civil War stuff on Pinterest, for some reason this idea came to me and so here it is. I hope you all enjoy it, this is meant as a sort of happy little one-shot.**

 **DISCLAIMER: The only thing or person in this fic that is mine is the OC of Carol.**

 **Reviews/Comments welcome!**

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After the world found out that Captain America was alive, there was understandably some buzz around it, people trying to find him. And the fan mail! From people who grew up on stories, and the memorabilia from the 1940's that still survived suddenly became even more valuable. But through all of that, Fury tried to shield Steve from the flurry. Except for one letter which was sent to a SHIELD office, addressed to Steve. It is the only one that Fury passed on to the super soldier.

The letter was simple, addressed to Steve by name rather than by title. And inside it simply read, 'When you're ready, you can come home again. You know where to find the key.' and it had an address on it. For a few minutes after reading it, Steve didn't understand the address, and then it struck him. The address was in his old neighborhood.

It didn't take long for Steve to get onto his motorcycle and go to his old neighborhood in Brooklyn which is much more upscale than it used to be. His old building is still there, though massively renovated. The shape of the building sticks out to him though, among all the taller buildings. Still, it has been massively modernized with a Brownstone brick look on the outside, large windows and solid stairs.

Walking up the stairs is like stepping into his past despite all the differences around him. For the moment its quiet, but he can hear a door open down below as he walks to the end of the building and looks at the door. Hopefully he is interpreting the note correctly as he slowly turns and looks toward the railing with a small smile. Nudging aside the block, Steve leans down and picks up the key he finds underneath. "That doesn't seem safe." he says but steps over to the door and unlocks it. The inside of the apartment is still the size that he remembers but it's been changed to get to current building codes while still retaining the character and history of the apartment.

Not thinking about it, Steve leaves the door slightly open, putting the key in his pocket as he puts his hands there and walks through the apartment slowly as he thinks about his history there, seeing everything that it was and now everything that it is. Considering the building and the area, he is fairly sure the other apartments are much nicer than this one. Though it's perfect for him.

"We tried to keep it as close to the original, with some modern upgrades of course." A woman's voice comes from the doorway. The person that belongs to it is leaning against the door frame, looking slightly embarrassed and even sheepish.

Steve turns at the voice, looking the woman over for a moment. "We?" he asks as he considers it, though he looks around again for a moment.

"Yeah. Um, my family. My grandfather bought this whole building in the 40's. My family has always had money. Anyway, they bought it after you became a big deal. Wanted to preserve it for you, for when you came home. I guess.. since your body was never found after your plane went down, we kept it up as a sort of.. memorial. Of course, we had to update it and everything. And all the other apartments we rent out except for the one right beneath this which is smallish, and that's where I live." She explains, rambling just slightly and tucking back some loose black hair. "I'm Carol, by the way. I sent you the letter." She explains.

Steve's eyebrows go up as he listens to her story. "Wow. I'm flattered." He says honestly as he looks at her, then adds, "I would love to move in here, if that would be ok. I'd pay rent and anything else, of course. Would be nice to live in my old neighborhood." He explains with a little smile. "And thank you. This is... I can't even describe it." he says with a chuckle, stepping closer and offering his hand to her. "I'm Steve. It's a pleasure to meet you, Carol."

Carol smiles as she takes his hand and shakes it, taking a deep breath. "Pleasure to meet you too. You have no idea." She is pretty sure her voice comes across as a bit too fan-girly, and from the slightly amused look on Steve's face, she guesses she's right. "And you can move in whenever you want. We can figure out rent and everything later." She reassures with a smile.

"There's just one thing I don't understand.. How did you know where to keep the key?" Steve asks as he looks over at her, wondering who might have known about the spare key.

"Stories. From your neighbors, those that knew your family, after my grandfather bought the building, he talked to the tenants, to try and make their lives better. He didn't want to evict anyone, he wasn't a bad person." Carol explains as she looks at him. "I just remembered it because it seemed so.. trusting. Not something anyone would do today. Not in New York City at least. It was a nicer time, I guess."

Steve watches Sue for a few moments and then nods and smiles. "Alright. Thank you, Sue. It'll be great to come home."


End file.
